Migration and Religion in Europe
Comparative Perspectives on South Asian Experiences Edited by Ester Gallo, Gediz University, Turkey

Ashgate 2014

Religious practices and their transformation are crucial elements of migrants’ identities and are increasingly politicized by national governments in the light of perceived threats to national identity. As new immigrant flows shape religious pluralism in Europe, longstanding relations between the State and Church are challenged, together with majority-faith traditions and societies’ ways of representing and perceiving themselves.

With attention to variations according to national setting, this volume explores the process of reformulating religious identities and practices amongst South Asian ‘communities’ in European contexts, Presenting a wide range of ethnographies, including studies of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Islam amongst migrant communities in contexts as diverse as Norway, Italy, the UK, France and Portugal, Migration and Religion in Europe sheds light on the meaning of religious practices to diasporic communities. It examines the manner in which such practices can be used by migrants and local societies to produce distance or proximity, as well as their political significance in various ‘host’ nations.

Offering insights into the affirmation of national identities and cultures and the implications of this for governance and political discourse within Europe, this book will appeal to scholars with interests in anthropology, religion and society, migration, transnationalism and gender.

Contents: Introduction: South Asian migration and religious pluralism in Europe, Ester Gallo; A universal Hinduism? Dancing coloniality in multicultural London, Sitara Thobani; ‘Our future will be in India’:
travelling nuns between Europe and South Asia, Gertrud Hüwelmeier; The status and role of the Norwegian-Pakistani mosque: interfaith harmony and women’s rights in Norway, Farhat Taj; The mobility of religion:
settling Jainism and Hinduism in the Belgian public sphere, Hannelore Roos; Sikh associational life in Britain: gender and generation in the public sphere, Kaveri Qureshi; Temple Publics as interplay in multiple public spheres: public faces of Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu life in Switzerland, Rafaela Eulberg; Buddhist, Hindu, Kirati, or something else? Nepali strategies of religious belonging in the UK and Belgium, David N. Gellner, Sondra L. Hausner and Bal Gopal Shrestha; Hindutva and its discontents in Denmark, Stig Toft Madsen and Kenneth Bo Nielsen; Sikhs in Italy: Khalsa identity from mimesis to display, Federica Ferraris and Silvia Sai; ‘Our Lady of Carmo is the patroness of our
family’: migration, religion and belonging of Portuguese-Goan Brahmans converted to Catholicism, Marta Vilar Rosales; Ganesha Caturthi and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Paris: inventing strategies of visibility and legitimacy in a plural monoculturalist society, Anthony Goreau; From Sanskrit classicism to Tamil devotion: shifting images of Hinduism in Germany, Kamala Ganesh; A suitable faith: Catholicism, domestic labour and identity politics among Malayalis in Rome, Ester Gallo; Index.

About the Editor: Ester Gallo is Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Gediz, Izmir, Turkey.

Reviews: ‘In recent years, South Asian religions and people have increasingly made themselves visible in European towns and cities. New grand architecture and open processions, but also societal controversies, shifted South Asian minorities from invisibility to public awareness accompanied by both tribute and trouble. The volume brings together new and fascinating research and highlights the diversity and vitality of South Asian religions in Europe.’ Martin Baumann, University of Lucerne, Switzerland

‘Migration and Religion in Europe will stimulate readers’ understanding of the diversity of minorities’ migration experiences and religious profiles in many states of Western Europe. Particularly fascinating are the disclosures of intersections between gender, politics and caste in this series of expert ethnographies. The comparative dimension of many chapters (between groups and between historical periods) is particularly illuminating.’ Eleanor Nesbitt, University of Warwick, UK

Barker, Eileen (Ed.). 2013. Revisionism and Diversification in New Religious Movements. Farnham: Ashgate.

https://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=19113&edition_id=24032

New Religious Movements tend to start their lives with a number of unequivocal statements, not only of a theological nature but also about the world and appropriate behaviours for the believer. Yet these apparently inalienable Truths and their interpretations frequently become revised, ‘adjusted’ or selectively adopted by different believers.

This book explores different ways in which, as NRMs develop, stagnate, fade away, or abruptly cease to exist, certain orthodoxies and practices have, for one reason or another, been dropped or radically altered. Sometimes such changes are adapted by only a section of the movement, resulting in schism. Of particular concern are processes that might lead to violent and/or anti-social behaviour. As part of the Ashgate/Inform series, and in the spirit of the Inform Seminars, this book approaches its topic from a wide range of perspectives. Contributors include academics, current and former members of NRMs, and members of ‘cult-watching’ movements. All the contributions are of a scholarly rather than a polemic nature, and brought together by Eileen Barker, the founder of Inform.

Contents: Revision and diversification in new religious movements: an introduction, Eileen Barker; The family international: rebooting for the future, Clare Borowik; The changing faces of God: the Hinduisation of the Hare Krishna Movement, E. Burke Rochford Jr; The post-Sun Myung Moon Unification Church, Michael L. Mickler; The Church of Scientology, Hugh B. Urban; La Mission de l’Esprit-Saint: 100 years of prophecies and schisms in a Quebecois NRM, Susan J. Palmer; The Orthodox Church of the Sovereign Mother of God/the New Cathar Church, J. Eugene Clay; Appendix: Blessed Father John: additional information supplied by the Church; Present truth and theological revisionism among the Branch Davidians, Eugene V. Gallagher; Aum Shinrikyo and Hikari no Wa, Erica Baffelli; The re-invented wheel: doctrinal revisions and control of the Falungong, 1992-2012, James W. Tong; Change and continuity: Hizb ut Tahrir’s strategy and ideology in Britain, Shiraz Maher; The metamorphosis of MEK (Mujahedin e Khalegh), Masoud Banisadr; When history fails: Mormon origins and historical revisionism, Massimo Introvigne; Revisionism in the New Age Movement: the case of healing with crystals, J. Gordon Melton; Intentional communities: the evolution of enacted Utopianism, Timothy Miller; Changes in North American cult awareness organizations, Carol Giambalvo, Michael Kropveld and Michael Langone; Changing vision, changing course: en-visioning/re-visioning and concentration/diversification in NRMs, David G. Bromley; Index.

About the Editor: Eileen Barker, PhD, OBE, FBA, is Professor Emeritus of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion at the London School of Economics, University of London. Her main research interests are ‘cults’, ‘sects’ and new religious movements, and the social reactions to which they give rise. She has over 300 publications (translated into 27 different languages), which include the award-winning The Making of a Moonie: Brainwashing or Choice? and New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction. In 1988, with the support of the British Government and mainstream Churches, she founded INFORM, a charity that provides information about minority religions that is as reliable as possible. She is a frequent advisor to governments, other official bodies and law-enforcement agencies throughout the world, has made numerous appearances on television and radio, and has been invited to give guest lectures in over 50 countries.

Reviews: ‘This is an impressive collection by major scholars of new religions who address major changes that have occurred in some of the most interesting and controversial of the new religious movements. It is packed with up to date information that will be of interest to scholars of many disciplines including sociology, religious studies, and the history of religions.’
James T. Richardson, University of Nevada, USA

Kirkham, David M. (Ed.). 2013. State Responses to Minority Religions. Aldershot Ashgate.

https://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=12555&edition_id=12938

The response of states to demands for free exercise of religion or belief varies greatly across the world. In some places, religions come as close as imaginable to autonomous existences with little interference from government. In other cases religion finds itself grinding out a meagre living, if at all, under the jealously watchful eye of the state.

This book provides a legal and normative overview of the variety of responses to minority religions available to states. Exploring case studies ranging from Islamic regions such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and the wider Middle East, to Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Canada, and the Baltics, contributors include international scholars and experts in law, sociology, religious studies, and political science. This book offers invaluable perspectives on how minority religions are currently being received, reviewed, challenged, or ignored in different parts of the world.

About the Editor: David M. Kirkham is Senior Fellow for Comparative Law and International Policy, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University Law School.

Reviews: ‘Increasing religious diversity in nations around the world has yielded more minority religions in many countries. This timely and important book brings together seventeen respected experts who chronicle the varied host nation responses to the appearance of minority religions in their midst.’
David G. Bromley, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA